Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 06-09-05, Optional, St. Ephrem

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The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian

"When one tries to describe the mystery of God in words, one can only stammer." Saint Ephrem

The Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power, and idle talk.

But give to me Thy servant a spirit of soberness, humility, patience, and love.

O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother:
For blessed art Thou to the ages of ages. Amen

From: 2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1, 3-6

Christian Ministry is Superior to that of the Old Covenant

[15] Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their
minds; [16] but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is removed.
[17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom. [18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the
glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree
of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

St Paul's Sincere Conduct

[1] Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose
heart. [3] And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those
who are perishing. [4] In their case the god of this world has blinded
the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God. [5] For what
we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as
your servants for Jesus' sake. [6] For it is the God who said, "Let
light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Commentary:

12-18. In these verses St Paul continues to stress that the apostolic
ministry is superior to that of Moses; he recalls the veil with which
Moses covered his face after he had been speaking to Yahweh. The
Apostle declares that this event was a symbol: the veil served Moses
not only to hide the radiance of his f or of the Holy Spirit, in the New
Testament, brings with it the freedom of the children of God obtained
by Christ, who has freed us from sin and from the Old Law (cf. Rom
8:1-17; Gal 4:21-31).

Christian freedom does not mean ignoring any bond or law; it means
accepting God's commandments not in a servile way, out of fear of
punishment, but rather as children who strive to do what pleases their
Father God. St Augustine explains this as follows: "That person lives
under the weight of the law who avoids sin out of fear of the
punishment which the law threatens, rather than because of any liking
for righteousness [...]. If you let yourselves be led by the Spirit,
you will not be under the weight of the law; of that law which is
considered to inspire fear and terror, and does not instill charity or
a taste for goodness; charity which has been poured into our hearts,
not by the letter of the law, but by the Holy Spirit, who has been
given us. That is the law of freedom, not the law of slavery, for it is
the law of charity, not that of fear" ("De Natura Et Gratia", LVII,
67).

18. The teaching expounded in the previous verses leads to this final
joyous declaration, in which St Paul sums up the Christian's spiritual
itinerary. Just as Moses' face reflected the splendor of Yahweh after
he had been speaking to him on Sinai, Christians in their lives reflect
the splendor of Christ, whom they contemplate in faith: "The Christian
who has been cleansed by the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of
regeneration", St John Chrysostom comments, "is changed, as the Apostle
puts it, into the likeness of Jesus Christ himself. Not only does he
behold the glory of the Lord but he takes on some of the features of
God's glory [...]. The soul who is regenerated by the Holy Spirit
receives and radiates the splendor of the heavenly glory that has been
given him" ("Hom. on 2 Cor.", 7).

Moreover, whereas the radiance of Moses was a passing thing, that of
Christians steadily increases the more they become identified with
Christ through docility to the influence of grace on their souls:
"Docility, because it is the Holy Spirit who, with his inspirations,
gives a supernatural tone to our thoughts, desires and actions. It is
he who leads us to receive Christ's teaching and to assimilate it in
a profound way. It is he who gives us the light by which we perceive
our personal calling and the strength to carry out all that God
expects of us. If we are docile to the Holy Spirit, the image of Christ
will be formed more and more fully in us, and we will be brought closer
every day to God the Father" (J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 135).

1-6. St Paul here stresses one of the main points he makes in this part
of the letter--the sincerity and genuineness of his conduct, and
therefore his rejection of anything to do with lies or underhand ways
(cf. 1:12, 17; 2:17; 3:1). Unlike the false apostles, his own aim in
preaching is to teach the truth of Jesus Christ without any dilution or
compromise (cf., for example, 1 Cor 1:18-25; Gal 2:11ff). If, in spite
of everything, there are still some who cannot see the truth of the
Gospel, the reason lies in their bad dispositions, which allow the
devil--the god of this world (cf. Jn 12:31; 14:30; Eph 2:2)--to darken
their minds. That is why they fail to recognize the divinity of Jesus
Christ, who is the perfect image of God the Father (vv. 4-6).

The Apostle's approach to preaching as here described reminds us of the
need to speak out clearly, very conscious that we have been entrusted
by God with a treasure which we must respect and venerate and pass on
in all its fullness. "Every evangelizer", Pope Paul VI teaches, " is
expected to have a reverence for truth, especially since the truth that
he studies and communicates is none other than revealed truth and
hence, more than any other, a sharing in the first truth which is God
himself. The preacher of the Gospel will therefore be a person who even
at the price of personal renunciation and suffering always seeks the
truth that he must transmit to others. He never betrays or hides truth
out of a desire to please men or in order to astonish or to shock, nor
for the sake of originality or from a desire to make an impression. He
does not refuse truth. He does not obscure revealed truth by being too
idle to search for it, or for the sake of his own comfort, or out of
fear. He does not neglect to study it. He serves it generously, without
making it serve him" ("Evangelii Nuntiandi", 78).

1. "By the mercy of God": as the RSV note points out, this in Greek
reads "as we have received mercy", or "by the mercy which has been done
unto us", which goes back to a Jewish turn of phrase designed to avoid
mentioning the name of God. St Paul also speaks in the plural, out of
modesty.

4. "To keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel": this is what the
Greek text means. The New Vulgate translation is somewhat different,
but it can be interpreted as meaning the same.

Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man, is the perfect likeness of
God (cf. Col 1:15; Heb 1:3). "For something to be a perfect image of
something else," St Thomas explains, "three things are needed, and all
three are to be found perfectly in Christ. The first of these is
likeness; the second is the origin; and the third, complete equality.
For if there were any dissimilarity between the image and him whose
image it is, or if the image did not have its origin in the other, or
if there were not perfect equality, given that both have the same
nature, there would be no perfect image [...]. Since all three are to
be found in Christ--he is the likeness of the Father, he proceeds from
the Father, and he is equal to the Father--he is called the image of
God in the fullest and most perfect sense" ("Commentary on 2 Cor, ad
loc."). Moreover, as perfect man he is the visible likeness of the
invisible God: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the
bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (Jn 1:18).

5. St Paul often calls Jesus "Lord" (cf., e.g., Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 5:6;
12:3; Phil 2:11). This is a clear assertion of Christ's divinity, for
"Lord" is the word the Greeks normally use when translating "Yahweh"
(cf. note on 1 Cor 8:4-6).

This faith in Christ's divinity is so basic to Christianity that St
Paul can sum up the essence of his preaching in these words: we preach
Christ as Lord.

6. Contrary to what happens in the case of those who resist belief
(v. 4), God has enlightened the hearts of Christians with the light of
faith. St Paul recalls the moment when God created light (cf. Gen 1:3),
as if to refer to the new creation resulting from the infusion of the
light of faith (cf. 2 Cor 5:17), which only happens with God's
intervention: for "no one can 'assent to the Gospel preaching as he
must in order to be saved without the enlightenment and inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, who gives all men their joy in assenting to and
believing the truth' (Second Council of Orange). Hence, faith itself
[...] is essentially a gift of God; and the act of faith is a work
pertaining to salvation. By this act man offers to God himself a free
obedience inasmuch as he concurs and cooperates with God's grace, when
he could resist it" (Vatican I, "Dei Filius", chap. 3).

Commenting on this passage of the epistle, St Thomas Aquinas gives a
beautiful description of the way faith works in the soul of St Paul,
and in that of every Christian: "Previously, that is, before being
converted to Christ, we were dark, like you and like those in whom the
brightness of Christ's glory does not shine. Now, however, after Christ
calling us through his grace, the darkness has been taken away from us,
and the power of the glory of the clear light of Christ is shining in
us. It shines so powerfully in us that not only are we given light to
let us see: we also have light for giving to others" ("Commentary on 2
Cor, ad loc."). A Christian should not hide the light of his faith but
should use it to enlighten those around him.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus and His Teaching, the Fulfillment of the Law (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [20] "For I tell you, unless your
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never
enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

[21] "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not
kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' [22] But I say
to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to
judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council,
and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire.
[23] So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember
that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there
before the altar and go; first to be reconciled to your brother, and
then come and offer your gift. [25] Make friends quickly with your
accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand
you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in
prison; [26] truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have
paid the last penny.

Commentary:

20. "Righteousness": see the note on Matthew 5:6 (see below). This
verse clarifies the meaning of the preceding verses. The scribes and
Pharisees had distorted the spirit of the Law, putting the whole
emphasis on its external, ritual observance. For them exact and
hyper-detailed but external fulfillment of the precepts of the Law was
a guarantee of a person's salvation: "If I fulfill this I am righteous,
I am holy and God is duty bound to save me." For someone with this
approach to sanctification it is really not God who saves: man saves
himself through external works of the Law. That this approach is quite
mistaken is obvious from what Christ says here; in effect what He is
saying is: to enter the Kingdom of God the notion of righteousness or
salvation developed by the scribes and Pharisees must be rejected. In
other words, justification or sanctification is a grace from God; man's
role is one of cooperating with that grace by being faithful to it.
Elsewhere Jesus gives the same teaching in an even clearer way (cf.
Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector). It
was also the origin of one of St. Paul's great battles with the
"Judaizers" (see Galatians 3 and Romans 2-5).

21. Verses 21-26 gives us a concrete example of the way that Jesus
Christ brought the Law of Moses to its fulfillment, by explaining the
deeper meaning of the commandments of that Law.

22. By speaking in the first person ("but I say to you") Jesus shows
that His authority is above that of Moses and the prophets; that is to
say, He has divine authority. No mere man could claim such authority.

"Insults": practically all translations of this passage transcribe the
original Aramaic word, "raca" (cf. RSV note below). It is not an easy
word to translate. It means "foolish, stupid, crazy". The Jews used
it to indicate utter contempt; often, instead of verbal abuse they
would show their feelings by spitting on the ground.

"Fool" translates an ever stronger term of abuse than "raca"--implying
that a person has lost all moral and religious sense, to the point of
apostasy.

In this passage our Lord points to three faults which we commit against
charity, moving from internal irritation to showing total contempt.
St. Augustine comments that three degrees of faults and punishments are
to be noted. The first is the fault of feeling angry; to this
corresponds the punishment of "judgment". The second is that of
passing an insulting remark, which merits the punishment of "the
council". The third arises when anger quite blinds us: this is
punished by "the hell of fire" (cf. "De Serm. Dom. in Monte", II, 9).

"The hell of fire": literally, "Gehenna of fire", meaning, in the
Jewish language of the time, eternal punishment.

This shows the gravity of external sins against charity--gossip,
backbiting, calumny, etc. However, we should remember that these sins
stem from the heart; our Lord focuses our attention, first, on internal
sins--resentment, hatred, etc.--to make us realize that that is where
the root lies and that it is important to nip anger in the bud.

23-24. Here our Lord deals with certain Jewish practices of His time,
and in doing so gives us perennial moral teaching of the highest
order. Christians, of course, do not follow these Jewish ritual
practices; to keep our Lord's commandment we have ways and means given
us by Christ Himself. Specifically, in the New and definitive Covenant
founded by Christ, being reconciled involves going to the Sacrament of
Penance. In this Sacrament the faithful "obtain pardon from God's
mercy for the offense committed against Him, and are, at the same time,
reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins"
("Lumen Gentium", 11).

In the New Testament, the greatest of all offerings is the Eucharist.
Although one has a duty to go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of
Obligation, an essential condition before receiving Holy Communion is
that one be in the state of grace.

It is not our Lord's intention here to give love of neighbor priority
over love of God. There is an order of charity: "You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your
strength. This is the great and first commandment" (Matthew
22:37-38). Love of one's neighbor, which is the second commandment in
order of importance (cf. Matthew 22:39), derives its meaning from the
first. Brotherhood without parenthood is inconceivable. An offense
against charity is, above all, an offense against God.

[Note on Matthew 5:6 states:

6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an
essentially religious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans
1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22 and 24). A righteous person is one who
sincerely strives to do the Will of God, which is discovered in the
commandments, in one's duties of state in life and through one's life
of prayer. Thus, righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the
same as what nowadays is usually called "holiness" (1 John 2:29;
3:7-10; Revelations 22:11; Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 9:4).]

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Thursday, June 9, 2005
Feria

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

2Corinthians 3:15 -- 4:1, 3-6
Psalm 85:9-14
Matthew 5:20-26

The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man, since It is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His Life.

-- St Peter Julian Eymard

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Lord, in your love fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit, who inspired the deacon Ephrem to sing the praise of your mysteries and gave him strength to serve you alone. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Prayers:

June 09, 2005

Optional Memorial of St. Ephrem, deacon and doctor

Old Calendar: Saints Primus and Felician, martyrs; St. Columba

St. Ephrem, called "the Harp of the Holy Spirit", is the great classic Doctor of the Syrian church. As deacon at Edessa, he vigorously combated the heresies of his time, and to do so more effectively wrote poems and hymns about the mysteries of Christ, the blessed Virgin and the saints. He had a great devotion to our Lady. He was a commentator on Scripture and a preacher as well as a poet, and has left a considerable number of works, which were translated into other Eastern languages as well as into Greek and Latin. He died in 373. Benedict XV proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1920.

Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar St. Ephrem's feast was celebrated on June 18 and today was the feast of Sts. Primus and Felician as well as St. Columba. Their feasts are no longer on the calendar in the United States.

Primus and Felician are two Roman martyrs of the via Nomentana. Their relics, transferred in the seventh century within the city, are at present in the church of St. Stephen on the Coelian Hill.

St. Columba, or Columkill, apostle of the Picts, was of illustrious Irish descent. He was brought up in the company of many saints at the school of St. Finian of Clonard. Being an ordained priest, and having founded many churches in Ireland, he went to Scotland with twelve companions, and there converted many of the northern Picts to the faith of Christ. He founded the monastery of Iona which became the nursery of saints and apostles. He also evangelized the northern English. He died on June 9, 597 at the foot of the altar at Iona while blessing his people, and was buried, like St. Brigid, beside St. Patrick at Downpatrick in Ulster.

St. Ephrem

Ephrem was of Syrian descent and son of a citizen of Nisibis. While yet a young man be betook himself to the holy bishop James, by whom he was baptized, and he soon made such progress in holiness and learning as to be appointed master in the school of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. After the death of the bishop James, Nisibis was captured by the Persians, and Ephrem went to Edessa, where he settled first among the monks in the mountains. Later, to avoid the company of those who flocked to him, he adopted the eremitical life. He was made deacon of the church of Edessa, but refused the priesthood out of humility. He was rich in all virtues and strove to acquire piety and religion by the following of true wisdom. He placed all his hope in God, despised all human and transitory things, and was ever filled with the earnest desire of those which are divine and eternal.

He was led by the Spirit of God to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he saw Basil, the mouthpiece of the Church, and they obtained benefit from their mutual intercourse. In order to refute the many errors which troubled the Church at that time, and to expound the mysteries of Jesus Christ, he wrote many books in the Syrian tongue, almost all of which have been translated into Greek. St. Jerome bears witness that he attained such fame that his writings were read publicly in the churches after the reading from the Holy Scriptures.

On account of his works, so full of the light of heavenly doctrine, he was greatly honored even during his lifetime as a Doctor of the Church. He composed a poem in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints for which he was called by the Syrians "the Harp of the Holy Ghost." He was noted for his great and tender devotion towards the immaculate Virgin. He died, rich in merits, at Edessa in Mesopotamia, on the fourteenth of the Kalends of July, in the reign of Valens. Pope Benedict XV, at the instance of many Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots and religious communities, declared him by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites to be a Doctor of the Universal Church.

Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

Patron: Spiritual directors; spiritual leaders.

Symbols: cowl with small cross; pillar of light; scourge.
Often portrayed: In monastic habit; lying on a funeral slab; with a scroll and vine, as a deacon.

Things to Do:

Read some of the writings of St. Ephrem.
Read Pope Benedict XV's Encyclical on St. Ephrem.

Sts. Primus and Felician

At an advanced age the brothers Primus and Felician were beheaded at Nomentum (or Mentana). According to the legendary Acts of their martyrdom, they were thrown into prison by Diocletian. Felician was separated from his brother and subjected to cruel tortures. Then the magistrate called for Primus. "See," he said, "your brother has acted much more wisely than you ; he listened to the emperor's wishes and now enjoys the greatest honor with him. If you follow his example, like consideration and favor will be shown you." Primus retorted: "What has happened to my brother, an angel has told me. Oh, that I, even as I am one in mind and heart with him, may not be separated from him in death!"

Both were then thrown to the lions, but the beasts crouched at their feet, fawning with head and tail. Of the twelve thousand persons who witnessed this marvel, five hundred together with their families embraced the faith. Finally the two brothers were beheaded.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Things to Do:

Read The Lives of Saints Prime and Felician from the Golden Legend.

St. Columba of Iona, Abbot

St. Columba is a saint who still, after fourteen hundred years, exerts an appeal upon our imaginations. Born in Ireland, in Donegal in the year 521, he was of the blood royal, and might indeed have become High King of Ireland had he not chosen to be a priest. His vital, vigorous personality has given rise to many legends, and it is a little hard to sift fact from what is more probably fiction. We do know that he was a man of tremendous energy, probably somewhat headstrong in his youth, but with his tendency to violence curbed by a gentle magnanimity.

It seems certain that he left Ireland as an act of penance, although it is less certain how far this was connected with his quarrelling over a copy of the Gospels he had made, a dispute that led to a bloody battle. He came from Ireland to Scotland, to the colony of Dalriada founded on the west coast by his fellow Irish Scots who were at that time somewhat oppressed by the dominant Picts. With twelve companions he founded his monastery on Iona in the year 563. These Celtic monks lived in communities of separate cells, but Columba and his companions combined their contemplative life with extraordinary missionary activity. Amongst his many accomplishments, Columba was a splendid sailor. He sailed far amongst the islands and travelled deep inland, making converts and founding little churches. In Ireland he had already, it is said, founded a hundred churches.

Of all the Celtic saints in Scotland, Columba's life is much the best documented, because manuscripts of his life, written by St Adamnan, one of his early successors as abbot of Iona, have survived. Iona itself remains a place of the greatest beauty, a serene island set in seas that take on brilliant colors in the sunshine, recalling the life and background of this remarkable man whose mission led to the conversion of Scotland and of the north of England, and indeed carried its influence far further afield. It later became the site of a Benedictine Abbey and of a little cathedral. These were dismantled by the Scottish reformers in 1561, and part of Columba's prophecy was fulfilled:

In Iona of my heart, Iona of my love,
Instead of monks' voices shall be lowing of cattle,
But ere the world come to an end
Iona shall be as it was.

When Dr Samuel Johnson visited the island in 1773 he observed, 'That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona!'

Columba was a poet as well as a man of action. Some of his poems in both Latin and Gaelic have come down to us, and they reveal him as a man very sensitive to the beauty of his surroundings, as well as always, in St Adamnan's phrase, 'gladdened in his inmost heart by the joy of the Holy Spirit.' He died in the year 597.

Courtesy of the Catholic Information Network

Patron: Against floods; bookbinders; floods; Ireland; poets; Scotland.

Symbols: Coracle; white horse; Celtic cross; devils fleeing.

Things to Do:

Read a longer life of St. Columba or read St. Adamnan's life of St. Columba.
In traditional lore, in Scotland on June 9, the feast of St. Columba is one of the luckiest days of the year when it falls on Thursday. The saying goes:
Day of Colum Cille the beloved
Day to put the loom to use
Day to put sheep to pasture
Day to put coracle on the seas
Day to bear, day to die
Day to make prayer efficacious
Day of my beloved, the Thursday. (Carmina Gadelica)
The healing herb, St. John's Wort, which flowers around summer solstice, is his herb.
In Norway, this is considered the day the salmon start leaping.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Face Yourself While There’s Still Time!
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Thursday, June 9, 2005

2 Cor 3:15-4:1, 3-6 / Mt 5:20-26

By the very nature of things, life is filled with conflicts. However charming and mellow the people we live with may be, we inevitably have differences of taste, preferences, interests, goals, visions, and ... whatever. Because of that fundamental reality of the human condition, we have to become experts at the art of reconciliation. We have to become adept at facing differences — some of them deeply and hurtfully felt — and bringing them together.

But the most profound and tricky task of reconciliation is not with others but within ourselves — learning how to recognize and name and face the conflicts within our own souls, conflicts that can tear us apart and sink our ships if we do not resolve them.

Jesus addresses that very matter at the end of today’s gospel, when He warns us about making peace with our opponent before we get to court. He’s not talking about an enemy on the outside; He’s talking about our own inner adversaries, our own demons. He’s saying, in a word: Face yourself while there’s still time. Face yourself and do what needs to be done before you destroy yourself.

It’s good advice from our very dear brother. Don’t ignore it!

Pope Benedict to meet top Jewish delegation on Thursday

Pope enters Italy fertility fray

bttt

Thursday June 9, 2005 Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1, 3-6) Gospel (St. Matthew 5:20-26)

In the Gospel reading today, Our Lord tells us that our holiness must surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees. And He goes on to give us some examples; for instance, not only are we not to kill but He is talking even about being angry with somebody, He is talking about being at odds with another person. But we can understand why the Lord would say this when we look at Saint Paul. Saint Paul tells us that we are being transformed from glory to glory as we behold the face of God.

If that is the case, we cannot continue to live in a worldly manner. We cannot continue to live just like anybody else. If we are being transformed from one degree of glory into the next, that means we have to continue to grow in holiness. And as we continue to grow in holiness, what should happen is that there will be a deeper peace within our hearts and the virtues that are going to be present within us are going to be more evident. So it is not just a matter of following the letter of the law, nor is it a matter of following the way that it was in the Old Testament times; but rather, in Christ, that glory into which we are being transformed is the glory of Christ Himself, to become Christ. That is the way we have to live our lives.

This idea that Saint Paul is talking about is something which is very, very important for us to be able to understand, that, as in the Old Testament when Moses would cover his face so the people would not see the glory, the problem was not so much the face of Moses but rather that when the people of the Old Testament heard the Word of God their hearts were veiled. They did not understand what it was that God was telling them, how it was that He would send His Son into the world, how He would be both God and man, how He would be born of the Virgin, and so on, all of the things that the Gospel presents. Even still, and most evidently in our own day, there are many who will not accept. And so Saint Paul says that the Gospel is veiled only from those for whom the god of the present age has veiled their minds. If we give in to the worldliness, we cannot understand the Gospel or at least we will reject it. If we give in to be like everyone else, then we cannot be transformed into Christ. It is not possible.

We, as Saint Paul says, are looking at God with unveiled faces because the glory of God shines within us. God dwells within, so we do not have to put a veil on, not only to look at Moses, but even to look at God. We can come before the Lord in adoration, and there in our humanity we can behold Him. We do not behold Him in the fullness of His glory (that is, the way we will see Him in heaven), but nonetheless, the fact is that we can even come before Him and kneel before Him and pray, the fact is that we can be united with Him, the fact is that we can receive Him in Holy Communion – this is the point Saint Paul is getting at. The people of the Old Testament could not even look at Moses’ face! Moses was the servant of God. They could not even look at Moses, let alone God. And we receive God into ourselves. We can behold Him face to face as we kneel before Him in adoration.

As we do this, we have to be transformed into the One Whom we receive, into the One before Whom we kneel, into the One Whose face we behold. That is what he is getting at, and that is the kind of holiness the Lord is looking for. Not merely an external holiness of following the letter of the law – that was the Pharisaical way of being holy – but the Lord is looking for an interior transformation, to become like Him, to be transformed into Christ. So as we receive Him and as we pray, we should be watching and noticing the change that happens inside of our own selves as we are transformed from one degree of glory to the next, as we behold God with unveiled faces.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

Mt 5:20-26
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
20	For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.	dico enim vobis quia nisi abundaverit iustitia vestra plus quam scribarum et Pharisaeorum non intrabitis in regnum caelorum
21	You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment.	audistis quia dictum est antiquis non occides qui autem occiderit reus erit iudicio
22	But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.	ego autem dico vobis quia omnis qui irascitur fratri suo reus erit iudicio qui autem dixerit fratri suo racha reus erit concilio qui autem dixerit fatue reus erit gehennae ignis
23	If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee;	si ergo offeres munus tuum ad altare et ibi recordatus fueris quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te
24	Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.	relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare et vade prius reconciliare fratri tuo et tunc veniens offers munus tuum
25	Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.	esto consentiens adversario tuo cito dum es in via cum eo ne forte tradat te adversarius iudici et iudex tradat te ministro et in carcerem mittaris
26	Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.	amen dico tibi non exies inde donec reddas novissimum quadrantem

The Madonna Interceding for Souls in Purgatory

Francesco Fontebasso
1762-1769
Oil on canvas, Duke University Museum of Art

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Beautiful religious painting, thanks for posting.

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